In this article you can learn how to write a prayer. This can be helpful to you, for example, if you always have a specific prayer with you when you are in a spontaneous situation. The beautiful thing about prayers is this: Whether you wrote it or not, God hears your prayer and understands what you want.
Therefore, there are several situations in which a ready-written prayer comes in handy. I have tried to take this into account in this guide and give tips for the appropriate approaches.
Table of Contents
Preparation
If you want to write a prayer yourself, you need to consider
- a) What is the purpose of this prayer?
- b) Which “target group” should be addressed?
The background is as follows: “Normal” prayers do not have to be written down. You can talk to God the way you want to. It doesn’t matter what words are used or how clever you sound with them – God already understands you and has made no conditions at all as to what exactly the content of a prayer should be.
On the contrary, Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:5) that prayers are not to “babble” and show off to people. So if you are trying to sound especially smart to impress people or God: Consider whether it’s really necessary.
Content of the text for the prayer
Every prayer has a specific purpose: either in the prayer God is thanked, praised or he is asked for something. Depending on what the purpose of the prayer is, the content will have to adapt.
The second thing is the target audience. For whom is this prayer written. Are you writing there prayer for your girlfriend as a prayer guide? Do you want to publish the prayer as a formulation guide? Do you want to write a prayer for yourself that you can quickly have at hand? When you write the text, write it in such a way that the other person understands it.
When you write a prayer for your friend, you can be very specific about a particular scenario in her life and ask God for specific help, for example. A formulation prayer is usually aimed at a large group of people. In doing so, you can’t go into every detail of what you would do with a friend.
Keep it more general and in a specific area. e.g. a prayer for health or healing from cancer, rather than “healing of left broken leg”.
When writing a prayer for yourself, write it in such a way that you can say it from memory when in doubt. Use phrases that you would not use in front of others or make comparisons that only you understand to the fullest extent.
For example, this can be a phrase like “God you’re more awesome than Fortnite” if you’re a big Fortnite fan. And as you can see, you’re also allowed to use “bad” words that probably aren’t in the Bible (like awesome or something). I’d even encourage you to consider this in your general prayer life.
Step 1: The beginning of the prayer
Always begin your prayer, no matter what kind of prayer, by addressing God directly. Always use a “title of honor” from God and emphasize for yourself, God and for your target group that God can already help indirectly.
Such an honorary title can be “God, our healer”, “God, ruler of the world” or “Dear Father”. The Bible has many titles for God. If you are not sure which title is the right one.
a) It doesn’t matter (prayers are not witchcraft where every word has to be right!)
b) Just use “Hello, dear God”.
After that you should thank God. Thank him for what he has already done for you. You can be relatively precise or imprecise, of course, depending on the audience. For example, if you write a prayer “against” a broken leg, you can thank God that the person survived the accident. If you write a prayer asking for money, thank God for providing for you.
If you can’t think of anything at first, you can thank God that He will listen to the prayer. Sometimes it can be as simple as that.
Step 2: Write the body of the prayer
The next step in writing a prayer is the “body” of the prayer. In this you write what your request is to God, praise God or thank Him.
If you have a request to God, write it down directly. There are basically no restrictions on what you may “wish” for God. Of course, it is up to God whether he fulfills your wish as written or not. Sometimes it comes differently than thought (Here you can read how God answers to prayers).
When you thank God, thank Him in detail for what you are thanking God for. Just list everything and let a heart flow into the text. Once you start thanking God, it often occurs to you what else you can thank Him for. Write it all down. Everything. As I wrote at the beginning, it doesn’t matter if you have repeated words. For example, it doesn’t matter if every sentence begins with the words “God, I thank you for”.
If you want to praise God with the prayer, then write here everything that you like about God. Make the list as long as you can. Take everything you can think of and put it in the text. If you are “brave”, you can ask God to give you words before you write. Then just write those words down. Then just remember to thank Him for helping you.
Speaking of giving thanks, if you are “only” writing a prayer of thanks, then it is enough to just thank God without making any new “demands.
Step 3: The end of the prayer
You can keep the conclusion of the prayer relatively short. Give thanks that God hears you and will hear you and that you have the opportunity to speak with God (this is not a matter of course!). Even if a prayer does not have to keep a certain form, it is recommended to end the prayer with an “Amen”.
This is also how the “Our Father” is ended in the Bible and this is considered a kind of “reference prayer” in Jesus’ eyes.
